Shampoo147: Well, whatever.

Ayame: Nothing to say.

Garfield: Nothing at all, oh yeah. Teddy's not gay, right now. Okay, listen, quit telling us to make it nonslash, slash, or whatever. I won't care about it until Harry's of age for sexual confusion - activity. Right now, it just doesn't feel right.

Truth is . . .

Teddy stood and saw his vision go momentarily black, as well as a dizzy spinning feeling in his head. He stumbled and allowed the black to take over completely.

Teddy opened his eyes and grimaced at the effort. His head was throbbing, as if he . . . as if he what?

"T-Master Harry Potter should drink this." Teddy grimaced at Winky's voice, but allowed her to smooth water down his throat.

"Wha-wh" His throat was burning, and he couldn't seem to get air into his lungs. He gasped and tried to breathe.

"Shh, Master Harry should sleep and let Winky take care of him."

Teddy frowned at the continued dryness of his throat and gratefully accepted the glass of water, now with a white straw, that Winky gave to him.

He sipped the water briefly before stopping.

'Harry?'

No reply.

"Is something wrong, Master Harry?" Winky suddenly asked. Teddy stared at his glass and shook his head.

Get Out!

Did Harry really . . . leave?

Teddy sipped his water and stared at his wall. There was, indeed, no Harry. No little voice assuring him insanity, no voice to talk him into stupid ideas . . .

'No voice to guide me . . . to make sure that I'm still a part of reality instead of just drifting off into my mind . . . '

Teddy frowned before mentally shrugging. He was till too emotionally exhausted to try and feel anything beyond murky apathy.

"Is something missing, Master Harry?" Winky voice broke through his quiet bubble of almost-thought.

"No, Winky, I'm –missing?" Teddy eyes snapped towards the house-elf and stared at her eyes.

Her ears bobbed as she replied, "Yes, there's something missing, something really important that-"

"Harry." Teddy declared, voice emotionless.

Winky bounced, "Yes," her voice had lost all submissive deference, "that's me. I'm not even a boy anymore, which is kind of weird. But it feels good to feel, and not just pick up secondhand emotions from you."

"Go away." Teddy sighed, knowing that spending anymore time with the lunatic could be poisonous.

"Well, I thought it over and I'll fulfill that request." Winky said, voice suddenly serious, "I'll leave you and check in on you in a month. For now, you're fine, except for the house-elf magic." Then, Winky's ears bobbed and –snap-, Harry/Winky was gone.

Things immediately slowed down; there was suddenly no hurry, no voice, no care. Things were as they were, no, not quite. Even then, he had a voice in his head, and now that was gone.

As Teddy . . . Harry ate his cereal, he grew more and more tense. He had realized, when he had first entered his own mind, that he had grown dependent on his little voice, but he never realized how drastically different life would feel without. It was as if there was a hole, a hole he couldn't fill, or even try to.

Even his artwork was suffering. He couldn't even give the clay and paint the attention they deserved. It was as if they didn't mean anything anymore. The works were shoddy and he couldn't concentrate anymore.

Showers could distract him for only a brief moment, and nothing more.

He tried retreating into his books, first with adventure stories, but then he could only remember the promise of real adventure that Harry offered him.

Irately, he tried science fiction stories, only to remember the true intelligence and genuine freakishness that Harry had already provided to him . . . and the promise of more to come.

Horror only reminded him that Harry had probably suffered worse, or knew worse and could provide real memories of such horror.

Mystery, thriller, and suspense only made him think along the lines of, 'well, what's a greater thrill? All of these little killings of fictional characters, or trying to outmaneuver various genii at their own game in real life where one false move could kill me?'

Fantasy made him flinch when he found himself wondering what Harry thought of these things.

Nothing he read could comfort him.

Walks in the cherry orchard calmed him greatly, but it also allowed reflection on his own growing boredom and curiosity.

Until, two weeks only, he found himself in a library, doing practice problems out of a math book called, "Math Covered in High School," which, apparently, was for home-schooled children.

To his satisfaction, it was a neatly labeled book and when he couldn't do some of the problems; it didn't take long for him to find a book to explain it (geometry, algebra, and trigonometry, for examples.)

To his satisfaction and irritation, he appeared to have a mind well suited for math and quickly caught on to the subject material, especially since he was actually focusing on the material instead of being forced to study.

Only grudgingly could he admit that he seemed to have a mind well suited for math.

Out of irrelevant curiosity, he pulled out a book (from the same series) titled, "Science Questions Covered in High School," and was stunned to realize that there was more to science than he had thought (science, grade school style). Chemistry, Psychology, Physical Science, Biology I, Biology II . . . who knew?

Well, he was fairly useless, so he gathered a few books on Psychical Science and grimaced when he realized that this was a lot more difficult than math, but just as satisfying to finish. Maybe more so because he actually had to work for this.

Also, it was nice knowing that there actually was much to the things around him that he never really appreciated.

Before he knew it, a month had passed and he was spending today sitting on his bed, staring at the floor, waiting for the lunatic to come to him.

"Harry!"

Teddy jerked forward and blinked at his disorientation, he must've fallen asleep. He sat up, rubbing his eyes and looking at the house elf in front of him.

His, her ears bobbed and the house elf asked, "Have you thought it over and decided?"

Teddy stared at the creature in front of him and nodded.

Bob, bob, "Well? Do you want me or not?"

Teddy sighed, breathed in, and answered, "Yes, I want you to teach me."

Harry (for it couldn't be Winky right now, so it's Harry) nodded, "Good, because as the Potter's house elf, I've lined up a list of tutors and subjects that I want to discuss with you right now."

Teddy blinked, stunned, "I thought you were going to be the one teaching me." For wasn't that what Harry had been saying?

Harry grimaced, looking odd as a house elf, and shook his head, "Nope, sorry, but the house elf's mind is stronger than people's so it's hard for me to retain control over her. I can do this long enough to talk with you, but not enough to give the kind of education you need right now." He, or she, raised a hand to forestall Teddy's protests, "I know that I have a lot to teach you by myself, but that will have to wait until I can find a stable form for my body. Preferably a doll or an empty shell, or even a recently dead man." A deep breath, "Now, we need to discuss your subjects."

Teddy grimaced before nodding, wondering what the psycho had in mind for education.

"Okay, I already decided all of the classes that I want you to take and when you take them. Do you promise to work hard in all of them, no matter what?" Teddy twitched before nodding, albeit reluctantly, "Good, now I've already hired all of the tutors you'll have (I'll admit, I referenced them from my mind in my world). Don't worry, as the Potters' house elf, I managed to charge all of their expenses to the Potter vault and with all of the tutors and crap they do every month, they're not going to pay any mind to our own little expenses; within reason." Harry took a deep breath and Teddy frowned, not liking the thought of cheating his family.

"A necessary sacrifice. Now, your subjects are going to be math, sketching, herbology, ancient history, language, science, P.E, geography, and government. I've been watching you since you were a baby and during this last month (very proud of you for really studying, by the by) and I've managed to place where you'll be and arranged it with the tutors. In math you're in Geometry, with a review of basic mathematics before that, and in science you'll be entering physical science. You'll mostly be working with incense and the like in Herbology. Also, in language, you'll be starting with pure Latin. Any questions?"

Teddy twitched again before nodding and saying, "Yes, uhm, what's with the sketching?"

"Ah, well, sketching will mostly be mathematical to technical. You see, it's an invaluable tool in Arithmancy, rituals, and the like. One mistake in the designs could be fatal; the reason you're going to be learning/training on how to do these things with surgical precision." Harry yawned and allowed Winky's ears to bob up and down.

Teddy yawned and asked, "What about P.E?"

"The physical part is so that you'll be strong in body and mind (the ship's sailed on magic, sorry) and be able to have a better chance at survival and self control in the future."

Teddy nodded, yawned, and murmured, "Okay" rather sleepily.

Bob up, bob down. "Okay, Teddy, go to sleep. Your classes will start on Sunday, starting with a friend of mine (in my world). He's rough around the edges, and a bit of a sadist, but he'll get you in shape in no time."

Teddy nodded and laid down. 'Just a moment, just a bit of rest'

"Close your eyes and sleep. You'll need it."

Not very comforting but Teddy closed his eyes and slept.

Teddy scooped a forkful of scrambled eggs into his mouth and washed it down with a gulp of orange juice. Today was Sunday and his first day of lessons. For the past few days, he had been in on night sleep to long nap on and on, barely awake. He suspected that Harry was making sure that he got plenty of sleep to keep his mind sharp and help reach his potential.

Or something.

"Alright, Teddy, better go meet your new teacher outside. Remember, he's a sadist, so don't expect soft treatment." Harry shooed him out of the kitchen and into the cherry orchard.

Teddy cleared his throat and jogged to the courtyard, wondering what the lesson would be like. (Harry had made sure that Teddy knew where all of his classes were at and when.)

When he got to the meeting point, he promptly doubled over and started panting.

"Pathetic. Stand up straight and pay attention!" Snapped a sharp voice behind him. Teddy jumped and stiffened his spine, whirling to look at his new teacher.

And was stunned. His new teacher was young and beautiful. He had soft, straight, yellow hair that was cut to meet his chin; with a small, elfish face and big green eyes. Unlike Harry's dark jade eyes, and his own emerald rich, his new teacher's eyes were a vivid shade of spring leaves. He was on the short side and looked no older than 12, perhaps, and was wearing a Chinese styled green suit.

To be honest, his new teacher looked as threatening as a fluffy Easter bunny.

Then his teacher suddenly scowled and threw a jump rope at him . . . somehow managing to make both of the handles smack Teddy in the forehead at the same time.

"Get up." Teddy scrambled to do so, noticing that his teacher did sound threatening enough.

His new teacher raised a delicate eyebrow before saying, "I'm Lavos Mandrake, you're new trainer. If you fall behind or don't do something fast enough, I will kick your ass and make you do it. I don't want to hear 'try'; I want results. If you don't do something well enough, I'll kick your ass and make you do it again. Now, your 'elf' told me that you were weak and needed to work from the basics. So, pick up that damn jump rope and play it with me." As Teddy spread the rope around him, his teacher, (Mr. Mandrake?) did the same and promptly started.

Teddy gaped for a brief moment, marveling at how quickly Mr. Mandrake was going, making the rope a blur and leaving no time for anything but quick little jumps on his toes. Never once did he even sway.

"DAMN IT! MOVE!"

Teddy flinched and started jumping rope.

"Faster, if you have time for that little jump between main jumps, you're not going fast enough."

Teddy went fast and bungled it.

"Balance, it's about timing, coordination, and balance. Do it again, keep doing it until I say to stop."

Teddy obeyed and was quickly running out of breath.

Maybe this wouldn't be as easy as he'd hoped.

"Faster!"